Let’s Take Back Our Flag, America!
Fellow Americans, let’s take back our flag and wave it proudly for our country’s hard-fought freedoms. We cannot allow the Far Right to wrap themselves in the stars and stripes and slash away at our fundamental rights under the guise of patriotism. We must recognize the basic truth emblazoned on this issue’s cover, that patriotism equals free speech, and it is impossible to have one without the other.
The situation is dire: The 2022-2023 school year saw 3,362 book bans in public schools and libraries. The free press and independent journalism risk extinction, with radical declines in both legacy and local news media. Meanwhile, misinformation spreads like wildfire with the aid of AI. MAGA has co-opted American flag imagery while doing everything they can to make our land less free with blatant lies and attacks on our rights—including our rights to free speech, sexual freedom and reproductive freedom.
